NHS dental clinics facing closure

Three Dumfries and Galloway NHS dental clinics will be closed in latest round of service cuts

Three NHS dental clinics in the region are set to be axed under a service review branded “a done deal”.

The health board is proposing the closure of the Lochmaben and Newton Stewart sites.

And while the Dumfries Dental Clinic will remain for some services NHS work is set to be withdrawn.

The
health board decision came after a review of five sites “following improvements in access to NHS dental services across the region”.

Clinics at Lochside in Dumfries and Sanquhar are set to remain.

They will continue to provide NHS services but with independent dentists through a leasing arrangement.

The outcome of the review was disclosed on the health board’s website.

And it is due to go before directors for approval in the spring.

People attending the three clinics set to close will be asked to transfer to independent practices.

But the process has angered Lochmaben patient Anne Murdy who told the Standard she is “concerned at the proposals”.

She
said: “I fear this wasn’t a robust consultation process because I only found out this week that any such proposal was on the cards.

“By
the nature of dental health care, the majority of people only attend every six months for a check up, so a large amount of patients will be completely unaware that this service is under threat of being withdrawn.”

She added: “I feel that I have been excluded from being able to comment on this process and have the sense of it being a ‘done deal’.

“I
understand there is now adequate provision within the private sector to
absorb all the patients on the books at Lochmaben Dental Clinic and apparently the private sector are actively seeking NHS treatment plans.

“When
I contacted the NHS dental services manager I asked her if we would end
up in the same situation we found ourselves in a few short years ago, where access to NHS dental care was seriously lacking in our region.

“She implied no, as we would have the choice of placements within the private sector.

“Perhaps
it’s me being cynical but that stinks of public money being fed into the private purse when a perfectly functioning NHS facility, giving more
than adequate care in a well apportioned, well situated site, is to be mothballed.”

Any patients of
the clinics who have queries about how this may affect them should contact: Kim Jakobsen, Dental Services Manager, phone/text: 07920587953 E-mail: kimjakobsen@nhs.net.